The Forerunner

weekly bulletin of St. Orthodox Church Orthodox Church in America (OCA) – Archdiocese of Pittsburgh 601 Boone Avenue, Canonsburg, PA 15317 724-745-8216 – www.frunner.org – www.facebook.com/frunneroca/

Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Canonsburg, the Chartiers Valley, Washington, and Beyond! January 17th, AD 2021 32nd Sunday after Pentecost (Tone 7)/12th Sunday of Luke St.

Home Parish of the Ever-Memorable Met. Theodosius, (+10/19) May his memory be eternal! Вѣчная память! Rector, Fr. John Kotalik 425-503-2891 – [email protected] Attached Clergy: Protodeacon John Oleynik, 724-366-0678 Deacon Theodosius Onest, 724-809-3491 Parish President & Warden, Mr. Kiprian Yarosh, 724-743-0231 Interim Choir Director, Mrs. Diane Yarosh; Cantor, Lara Galis

The Orthodox Church humbly claims to be the One Church of Jesus Christ, founded on the Apostolic Witness to our Lord, born on the day of Pentecost, and for 2,000 years making known to men, women, and children the path to salvation through repentance and faith in Christ.

All Services are Live-Streamed Online on our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/StJohntheBaptistOrthodoxChurchCanonsburg/live Upcoming Schedule January 19, Tuesday: -7:00 PM, All-OCA Online Church School for Middle and High School Students: Every Tuesday, go to https://www.oca.org/ocs and click your age group! January 21, Thursday: FR. JOHN & MAT. JANINE RETURNING January 23, Saturday: -5:15 PM, General Pannikhida -6:00 PM, Vespers & Confession January 24, Sunday (New & Confessors of Russia; Xenia of Petersburg; Sanctity of Life Sunday): -8:45 – 9:15 AM, Confession -9:30 AM, Divine Liturgy Church Open Until Noon -6:00 PM, Moleben to St. Nina of Georgia (Nina Onest’s Nameday; transferred from Jan. 14 due to Fr. John’s absence) January 26, Tuesday: -7:00 PM, All-OCA Online Church School for Middle and High School Students: Every Tuesday, go to https://www.oca.org/ocs and click your age group! January 27, Wednesday -6:30 PM, Moleben in Time of Pestilence, followed by Confession January 29, Friday (March for Life in DC): -9:00 AM, Moleben to End Abortion -12:30 PM, Moleben to End Abortion (simultaneously with OCA’s Moleben at the March for Life in DC) -6:30 PM, Vespers & Confession , Saturday (Three Holy Hierarchs): -10:00 AM, OCF Divine Liturgy (Tentative) @ Waynesburg University -6:00 PM, Vespers & Confession January 31, Sunday: -8:45 – 9:15 AM, Confession -9:30 AM, Divine Liturgy Church Open Until Noon -6:00 PM, Moleben to St. Brigid February 1, Monday (Eve of the Feast of the MEETING OF THE LORD): -6:30 PM, Vespers & Confession Parish Life Amid Coronavirus – UPDATED 12/20 • All services are open to all parishioners and visitors. • Masks must be worn at all times except for when receiving Holy Communion; serving clergy will remain maskless, but will put on masks whenever possible. • On Sunday mornings, we have moved to a first-come, first-served model: ushers will help to seat you so as maintain social distance of 6-8 between families. If there is no room upstairs, please sit downstairs in the hall to watch the service on the protector, coming up for Holy Communion and for the Veneration of the Cross. • For those more concerned about COVID, feel free to head downstairs directly. • If you would like to volunteer to help usher, please contact Mat. Myra Oleynik: [email protected]. • For other services, we ask that you practice social distancing. Spots are marks for individuals and small families with a “1-3” sticker, and for larger families with a “4+” sticker. • We are currently having no more than six singers, who are wearing masks in the choir loft. At other services, we are employing a single singer up front, without a mask. We kindly ask that we refrain from singing from the pews for the time being. • If you would like to get on the singing rotation, please contact Diane Yarosh: [email protected]. • Depart the church as soon as possible after services; socialize in the parking lot. • Abp. Melchisedek has instructed us to follow the updated Pennsylvania travel directives: other than commuters, if you travel out of , you must EITHER quarantine for 10 days or receive a negative result from a COVID test before you return to church services. • For those uncomfortable coming to church, remember that all services continue to be live-streamed, and can be heard over the phone. Visitors are always welcome upstairs; regardless of their last name, please invite them! Communion Appointments For those uncomfortable coming to Church amid the Coronavirus pandemic, Fr. John is able to offer the Reserved Sacrament for the Sick. Please contact Fr. John to make an appointment, with mornings preferred. Fr. John can come your house, but if you are comfortable coming to the church this is greatly preferred. Parish Stewardship We thank our dedicated parishioners for their continued donations in this trying time; the parish still has bills and it is only by our sacrificial offerings that we can continue to meet our financial responsibilities. If unable or uncomfortable coming to church, please mail your donation. Additionally, you can now give online: go to tithe.ly and search for St. John Orthodox Church – Canonsburg. Fundability Our parish scrip program – Fundability – is still taking orders. Please call or text Wendy Petronka at 724-255-5046 or email her at [email protected] in order to place your order and to arrange to get your gift cards. One of our dedicated Fundability helpers will be available after our weekend Liturgies too! Food Drive Chronic hunger is always a problem in the United States and Washington County, but the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic have made the issue worse. Even before the pandemic, Washington County had a food insecurity rate of over 10% and now, with the unemployment rate of 12.8% (an 8.3% increase from last year and above the national average of 7.4%); that rate is rising. The Outreach Committee is hosting an on-going food drive to support our community, and our own parishioners. Please consider purchasing one or two non- perishable food items when you shop. You can drop off the items in the narthex the next time you are in church, and Committee members will deliver it to area food banks. If you’d like to contribute in other ways, baby supplies (diapers, wipes, & formula) and toiletries are also needed. Any financial donations are welcome too! If you have questions, please contact Julianna Cario: 724-263-1046. Theophany House Blessings Given the pandemic, our annual house blessings after the Feast of Holy Theophany will look a little different this year. Fr. John will be JUST blessing the house: wearing a mask, asking you all to wear masks, and departing without the normal socialization, coming and going as soon as possible. If you would like this short blessing, please go to the following link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084FADA929ABF94- theophany. If you do not have an internet connection, please call Fr. John about one of the following dates and times. Alternatively, starting in February, Fr. John will be making virtual visits over Zoom for those who would like the annual visit with Fr. John, both for those who had their homes blessed and those who did not. Sign-Up information will be made available later in January. If there is a greater demand for house blessings than expected, the virtual visits may be pushed back into mid-February. Fr. John misses you all, and cannot wait until he can sit down with each and every family during house blessing season next year! Note: each time slot allows for 15 minutes for the house blessing, and only 30 minutes is provided for travel between locations; if you live a good distance away from the parish, please consider using one of the final morning/evening slots and be patient if Fr. John arrives a bit late. As Fr. John is not good at refraining from socialization, this schedule will keep him coming and going quickly! If Fr. John doesn’t have your address, please include it on the sign-up or email/call him with it. Looking Ahead: OCF Liturgy on Jan. 30th (Tentative) If you don’t know, we are blessed to be cultivating a wonderful OCF (Orthodox Christian Fellowship College Ministry) Chapter at Waynesburg University. With the blessing of His Eminence, Abp. Melchisedek, Fr. John hopes to serve a missionary Liturgy at the university’s chapel on Saturday, Jan. 30th. This will be the Feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs: Ss. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and , which – by blessed coincidence – are patrons of students (particularly theological students, but not limited to them). He is working with the university in this, and should have a final answer soon. If and when this Liturgy is served, please consider supporting our parish in this missionary effort with your wonderful presence. Sanctity of Life Sunday & Moleben to End Abortion Ever since the infamous Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case legalized abortion on January 22nd, 1973, the Friday following Jan. 22nd has been marked by the March for Life in Washington, D.C., to witness to the Christian belief in the sin of abortion, drawing 400,000 participants in some years. Since 1987, the Orthodox Church in America has officially participated in the March for Life, with the Primate (then Met. Theodosius) normally in attendance since 1988. Since 1996, the Orthodox Church in America has observed the Sunday before the annual March for Life as “Sanctity of Life Sunday” as a prelude and preparation for this occasion, with the Holy Synod asking us to insert special petitions and prayers into the Liturgy asking God to help us respect all human life, from conception to natural death, both in regards to abortion as well as “to care for the needy, to show kindness to the poor, to aid the homeless, and to help the helpless”. The Moleben to End Abortion normally served by the Met. Tikhon on the National Mall will be served here at St. John’s at 9:00a, as well as in solidarity with the marchers at 12:30p. A Short Life of St. Anthony the Great Adapted from St. Nikolai of Zhicha’s Prologue of Ochrid Anthony was an Egyptian and was born in about the year 250. Following the death of his noble and wealthy parents, who had raised him as a Christian, he divided his inheritance with his sister, who was a minor, and made sure that she was cared for by some relatives. Anthony distributed his half of the estate to the poor, and in his twentieth year he dedicated himself to the ascetic life for which he had yearned from his childhood. In the beginning, Anthony lived a life of in the proximity of his village, but in order to flee the disturbance of people he withdrew into the wilderness on the shore of the Red Sea. There he spent twenty years as a recluse, not associating with anyone except God. Through constant prayer, reflection, and contemplation, he patiently endured unspeakable temptations from the devil. His fame spread throughout the entire world, and many disciples gathered around him, whom he set on the path of salvation by his example and words. A Selection of the 38 Sayings of St. Anthony the Great Drawn from The Sayings of the , trans. and ed., Sr. Benedicta Ward, SLG 1. When the holy Abba Anthony lived in the desert he was beset by accidie [from the Greek acedia: listlessness, lit. “lack of care”], and attacked by many sinful thoughts. He said to God, “Lord, I want to be saved but these thoughts do not leave me alone; what shall I do in my affliction? How can I be saved?” A short while afterwards, when he got up to go out, Anthony saw a man like himself sitting at his work, getting up from his work to pray, then sitting down again and plaiting a rope, then getting up again to pray. It was an angel of the Lord sent to correct and reassure him. He heard the angel saying to him, “Do this and you will be saved.” At these words, Anthony was filled with joy and courage. He did this, and he was saved. 2. When the same Abba Anthony thought about the depth of the judgments of God, he asked, “Lord, how is it that some die when they are young, while others drag on to extreme old age? Why are there those who are poor and those who are rich? Why do wicked men proper and why are the just in need?” He heard a voice answering him, “Anthony, keep your attention on yourself; these things are according to the judgment of God, and it is not to your advantage to know anything about them.” 3. Someone asked Abba Anthony, “What must one do in order to please God?” The old man replied, ‘Pay attention to what I tell you: whoever you may be, always have God before your eyes, whatever you do, do it according to the testimony of the holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will be saved.” 4. Abba Anthony said to Abba , “This is the great work of man: always to take the blame for his own sins before God and to expect temptation to his last breath.” 5. He also said, “Whoever has not experienced temptation cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” He even added, “Without temptations no-one can be saved.” 6. Abba asked Abba Anthony, “What ought I to do?” and the old man said to him, “Do not trust in your own righteousness, do not worry about the past, but control your tongue and your stomach.” 8. He also said [to Abba Pambo], “Some have afflicted their bodies by asceticism, but they lack discernment, and so they are far from God.” 9. He said also, “Our life and our death is with our neighbor. If we gain our brother, we have gained God, but if we scandalize our brother, we have sinned against Christ.” 13. A hunter in the desert saw Abba Anthony enjoying himself with the brethren and he was shocked [i.e., he was scandalized to see enjoying themselves]. Wanting to show him that it was necessary sometimes to meet the needs of the brethren, the old man said to him, “Put an arrow in your bow and shoot it.” So he did. The old man then said, “Shoot another,” and he did so. Then the old man said, “Shoot yet again,” and the hunter replied “If I bend my bow so much I will break it.” Then the old man said to him, “It is the same with the work of God. If we stretch the brethren beyond measure they will soon break. Sometimes it is necessary to come down to meet their needs.” When he heard these words the hunter was pierced by compunction and, greatly edified by the old man, he went away. As for the brethren, they went home strengthened. 16. A brother said to Abba Anthony, “Pray for me.” The old man said to him, “I will have no mercy upon you, nor will God have any, if you yourself do not make an effort and if you do not pray to God.” 17. One day some old men came to see Abba Anthony. In the midst of them was Abba Joseph. Wanting to test them, the old man suggested a text from the Scriptures, and, beginning with the youngest, he asked them what it meant. Each gave his opinion as he was able. But to each one the old man said, “You have not understood it.” Last of all he said to Abba Joseph, “How would you explain this saying?” and he replied, “I do not know.” Then Abba Anthony said, “Indeed, Abba Joseph has found the way, for he has said: ‘I do not know’.” 23. He also said, “God does not allow the same warfare and temptations to this generation as he did formerly, for men are weaker now and cannot bear so much.” 25. Abba Anthony said, “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, ‘You are mad, you are not like us’.” St. Anthony and the Cobbler St. Anthony, beholding his spiritual achievements at the end of his life, prayed to God to be shown a greater example than himself, lest he fall into pride and delusion. God responded by telling him to leave the desert for , where he would find a cobbler who outshone St. Anthony in holiness. Led by God to this cobbler, St. Anthony inquired as to how he lived. His answer was that he gave a third of his income to the Church, another third to the poor, and kept the rest for himself. This did not seem a task out of the ordinary to Anthony, who himself had given up all his possessions and lived in the desert in total poverty. Therefore St. Anthony said to him: ‘It is the Lord who has sent me to see how you live’, asking him to tell him more. The humble tradesman, who venerated Anthony, then told Anthony his secret: I, Abba, have never done anything good, I only struggle to keep the holy teachings of the Gospel. In the morning, when I rise, I pray for the whole city wherein I dwell, especially for all such neighbours and poor friends as I have. When I make any man a promise, I keep it and perform it truly. In the evenings, I spend my time with my wife and children, whom I teach and instruct, as far as my ability will serve me, to fear and love God. And further, I try to never forget to overlook my shortcomings and my spiritual fruitlessness. Therefore, as I work during the day I think and say to myself: O wretched man, all will be saved and only you will remain fruitless. Because of your sin, you will never be worthy to see His Holy Face. “Humility! Humility therefore is the quickest path to the gate of Paradise,” Anthony said in his thoughts, “Humility is the robe which God clothed himself with and came to earth as man.” And he struggled to perceive the greatness of this holy virtue. Memory Eternal! – Вѣчная память! – Věčnaja pamjat! Newly Departed (Parishioners in Bold): Ruth Schreiber (12/9) Sergei Chidlowsky (12/10) Sdn. Andrew Sysock (12/12) William Evansky (12/18) Phyllis Fedosa Daniels (12/19) Dimitry Riabtsev (12/25) Richard Onest (12/28) Elizabeth Demsher (1/13) Prince (1/17) Anniversaries of the Departed: Mary Suwak (1/17/1998) Andrew Arvay (1/18/1933) John Shimansky (1/19/1939) Joseph Chupinsky (1/19/1946) John Haverlack (1/19/1971) Ivan Mikitin (1/19/1972) Wasil Bobronick (1/20/1968) Thekla Skowranski (1/20/1971) Lazor (1/22/1980) Mary Pavlek (1/22/2016) Julia Spetek (1/22/2018) Peter Rendziak (1/23/1980) Steven Matyuf (1/23/2000) Michael Woitel (1/23/2007) Nicholas Yastrubkov (1/23/1922) Charles Vasily Chizhov (1/24/1930) Conrad Wasuchno (1/24/1961) John Furman (1/24/1968) Many Years! – Многая лѣта! – Mnohaja i blahaja lěta! Namedays: Anthony Cario (1/17) Anthony Kolarsky (1/17) Birthdays: Aubrie Eismont (1/20) We pray for the health and salvation of: Apr. Emilan, Apr. John, Helene (Emerick) Mary Kay (Weber) Panimatka Anne, Gregory (Kachmarsky) Joseph & Mary Ann Nathan, Pr. Matthew, Robert (Kalakewich) (Zupancic) Mat. Rebekah, Pr. Michael, Marcie, Layla, Alexander & Marissa, and Gabriel, and all those Melina, Simon, & Jude the child to be born of her suffering from the (Killmeyer) (Schenken) Coronavirus Mark (Korabelnikov) Rd. Michael, Ilariana, and Protopr. (Hubiak) Rose (Lazorchak) the child to be born of her Igumen Patrick (Carpenter) Shirley (Lazorchak) (Galis) Apr. George & Janice (Lenart) Catechumens/Inquirers: Pres. Dianthe (Livanos) Donald (Marsico) Anthony, Hannah, Apr. John (Reeves) Albert (Maruskin) Matthew, Alicia, Paxton Apr. Michael (Hatrak) Brandon (Mayberry) & Melissa Mat. Natasha (Lazor) Gregg (Nescott) Mat. Kelly Elizabeth Peter (Petronka) (Oleynik) Mary (Pirih) Mat. Alexandra (Safchuk) Anita (Prince) Mat. Sophia (Sokolov) Gabor (Prince) Mat. Susanne (Senyo) Anastasia (Rudolph) Diane (Arcoletti) Stephen, Julie, Nicholas, & John (Boschuk) (Simko) Greg & Elaine (Gwen) Meretta (Stockman) (Bushko) Carol (Sweda) John (Carpenter) Luis (Thompson) Alfred (Davis) Richard (Trombetta)